February 25, 2018

Hari Om!

Today we started the class with an energizing Yoga Class where we learnt not only the yoga poses Surya Namaskar, etc., but also why we should treat the Yoga Mat with respect. Ask your kids about it! Having yoga class means having a shorter instruction class where we continued our quest into where God is. 

We have heard time and again that God is everywhere. Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, 

Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam

dharmasamsthaparnarthaya sambhavami yuge   yuge

“For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the establishment of righteousness, I am born in every age”

"When you are good and if someone or something is troubling you, I shall come to protect you”

• How does Bhagavan fulfill His promise to help us when we are in trouble? 
• Can He take a form?
• In what form does He come to help us?
• Where does He come from? and
• Does He really come from Vaikuntha?

Saint Tulsidas provides answers to these questions, and gives us the addresses of God in Ramacaritamanas. God is where the world is. All forms are His forms, just as all gold ornaments are nothing but gold only.

Saint Tulsidas wrote Ramayan in Awadhi language. Sage Valmiki wrote Ramayan in Samskritam. We took a pause and learnt the story of Sage Valmiki through a Cartoon, and also learnt about Saint Tulsidas. We will continue to learn about the addresses of God in the coming classes.

February 11, 2018

Hari Om, Parents

Having completed the 'Key to Success' as enunicated in Vibhishana Gita, which is a part of Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas, we moved on to the second part of our curriculum - 'P.O. Box Mr God' in today's class. Intriguing , is it n't? Kids also had fun doing a couple of activities in the class.

Opening with Prayers, followed by a quick review of  the 'Dharma Chariot', we continued the past week's exercise on finding which component of Dharma Chariot appealed to our class, and how this chosen component leads to embrace the other components as well. 'Devotion to God' was the way to go for Suchir, while 'Character' was the starting point for Seema. Rima will begin with 'Self Knowledge' and for Diya, it is 'Samtosha or Contentment'.

The curriculum for 'P.O.Box Mr God' is developed from Ayodhya Kanda in Ramcharitmanas, where Saint Tulsidas has shown us where God resides, i.e., the address of God. Hence this curriculum is aptly titled, P.O.Box Mr God. The goal is to drive home the message that God is omnipresent, and He is within and without us. We all can become an address of God, if we assimilate the values described in Ramcharitmanas.

We began with questions on why we write letters, and who God is, what God is and Where God is. We had active participation with answers mostly in the tune of 'God is everywhere'. Children already got the point! Then they wrote down their answers in a piece of paper, which they will compare with what they come up with, at the end of the year.

God is Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent. If God is present everywhere and with Science telling us that same space cannot  be occupied by two objects, where does God reside ? In all of us! God is Brahman. God is the changeless substratum. God of waves is the Ocean, God of pots is mud, so on and so forth. God is thus the cause and is in and through the effects

Kids then wrote a letter to God, mainly to thank him for what they have, which they put inside an envelope that they made during the class. They wrote their self address for 'From' address, and are in a question as to the 'To' address of Mr God. That's where we stopped this class. We will continue with the 'To' address section of Mr God next class.

February 4, 2017

Hari Om!

Our student blogger for this week's class is Hari Karthikeya D. Here's his summary for the class of February 4, 2018.

Last week, during Balavihar class we started with opening prayers. Then we wrapped up our understanding about the Dharma Chariot, and talked about the Quiver, Arrows, and Bow. We also discovered a new topic in the Dharma Chariot, the Armor. Armor in Dharma Chariot symbolizes the unbreakable armor (Kavaca) is devotion to the Guru, and to the Learned People. The idea of Dharma Chariot, represents the life goal of Dharma, this understanding can be employed in our daily life. We then chanted Guru Stotram, ending with prayer.In this class we finally know the components of Dharma Chiarot, what they symbolize, and why we need it ?

This is what we learned about Dharma Chariot past classes.   

Flags

Satya - Truthfulness

Sila - Good Character

Shield

Birati - Dispassion

Reins

Ksama - Forgiveness

Krpa - Compassion

Samaria - Equanimity

Charioteer

Isa Bhajanu - Devotion to God

Wheels

Sauraja - Valor, Courage

Dhiraja - Fortitude, Patience

The Sword

Santosha - Contentment

Horses

Bala - Strength

Bibeka - Discrimination

Dama - Control of Senses

Prahita - Caring for others

The Axe

Dana - Generosity

Bow

Bara Bigyana - Self Knowledge

Quiver

Pure and Steady mind

Arrows

Quietude of mind

Amour

Kavaca - Devotion to the Guru

Guru Stotram

akhaṇḍamaṇḍalākāraṃ vyāptaṃ yena carācaram |
tatpadaṃ darśitaṃ yena tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 1 ||

aṅñānatimirāndhasya ṅñānāñjanaśalākayā |
cakṣurunmīlitaṃ yena tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 2 ||

gururbrahmā gururviṣṇuḥ gururdevo maheśvaraḥ |
gurureva parambrahma tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 3 ||

sthāvaraṃ jaṅgamaṃ vyāptaṃ yatkiñcitsacarācaram |
tatpadaṃ darśitaṃ yena tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 4 ||

cinmayaṃ vyāpiyatsarvaṃ trailokyaṃ sacarācaram |
tatpadaṃ darśitaṃ yena tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 5 ||

tsarvaśrutiśiroratnavirājita padāmbujaḥ |
vedāntāmbujasūryoyaḥ tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 6 ||

caitanyaḥ śāśvataḥśānto vyomātīto nirañjanaḥ |
bindunāda kalātītaḥ tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 7 ||

ṅñānaśaktisamārūḍhaḥ tattvamālāvibhūṣitaḥ |
bhuktimuktipradātā ca tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 8 ||

anekajanmasamprāpta karmabandhavidāhine |
ātmaṅñānapradānena tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 9 ||

śoṣaṇaṃ bhavasindhośca ṅñāpaṇaṃ sārasampadaḥ |
guroḥ pādodakaṃ samyak tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 10 ||

na guroradhikaṃ tattvaṃ na guroradhikaṃ tapaḥ |
tattvaṅñānātparaṃ nāsti tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 11 ||

mannāthaḥ śrījagannāthaḥ madguruḥ śrījagadguruḥ |
madātmā sarvabhūtātmā tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 12 ||

gururādiranādiśca guruḥ paramadaivatam |
guroḥ parataraṃ nāsti tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ || 13 ||

tvameva mātā ca pitā tvameva 
tvameva bandhuśca sakhā tvameva |
tvameva vidyā draviṇaṃ tvameva
tvameva sarvaṃ mama deva deva || 14 ||